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ALFRED, NY -- The RIT men's lacrosse team held off a late rally to defeat Alfred University (8-4, 1-4 E8) 13-11 in Empire 8 action on Wednesday afternoon. The win improves RIT to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the Empire 8.
RIT out shot Alfred 51-35 and won the ground ball battle 50-27. The Tigers won 21-of-28 face-offs and cleared the ball 23-of-25 times.
The Tigers led 9-3 at half time and 10-6 after three quarters. RIT held off a five-goal fourth quarter from the Saxons for the win.
Iric Bressler (Stafford, VA/North Stafford) (Stafford, VA/N. Stafford) had a nice afternoon for RIT, tallying five points on three goals and two assists.
Sean Gillies (Oakville, Ontario/Albany Academy) (Oakville, ON/Albany Academy) scored three goals and
Kelso Davis (Freeport, ME/Deerfield Academy) and
David Burke (Fairport, NY) each had a pair of goals.
M.J. Kiekebelt (Caledon, ON/St. Andrews College-Aurora) had three ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Dan MacRae (Oakville, Ontario/Holy Trinity) (Oakville, ON/Holy Trinity) had six grouond balls and caused three turnovers.
Rob Tonnessen (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) (Ridgefield, CT) picked up the win making eight saves, allowing 11 goals.
RIT scored six times in the first quarter, leading 6-2. David Burke had two goals in the opening quarter and Iric Bressler had a goal and an assist.
The Tigers opened the game with a three-goal run. Adam Lehmann took the opening face-off and gave RIT a 1-0 lead eight seconds into the contest.
Bressler made it 2-0 RIT 31 seconds into the game with an unassisted goal. Burke scored the first of his two goals 52 seconds into the quarter, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
After a pair of Alfred goals cut the score to 3-2,
Billy Walton (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham), Kelso Davis and Burke scored sonsecutive goals for the Tigers, giving them a 6-2 lead.
RIT got three more goals from Bressler and Gillies in the second quarter and held Alfred to one goal, leading 9-2 at the half. Gillies scored two of his three goals in the second quarter.
The Tigers stumbled a little in the third quarter, allowing three Alfred goals. Gillies scored RIT's lone goal in the second quarter as RIT took a 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Saxons scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter, cutting RIT's lead down to 10-8. After a
Tanner King (Virginia Beach, VA/Corning East) (Virginia Beach, VA/Corning East) goal made it 11-8, Alfred scored two more goals cutting RIT's lead to 11-10 with 7:51 to play.
Kelso Davis tallied an unassisted goal with 7:22 to play, giving the Tigers a 12-10 lead. Bressler struck for the third time in the game with 4:26 remaining making it 13-10 RIT.
The Saxons got a goal inside the final minute of play making the final 13-11.
RIT hits the road for a non-conference game on Sunday, April 19 against Eastern Connecticut. Game time is 1 pm.